Recoil reducing device for firearms



May 25, 1954 F. H. sEELEY ET AL 2,679,192

RECOIL REDUCIN DEVICE FOR F'IREARMS Filed March 25, 1949 Patented May25, 1954 UNITED STATES ciauz Frank H. Seeley and Edward W. Petri, FortPlain, N. Y.

Application March Z3, 1949, Serial No. 83,002

1 Claim.

Our invention relates to rearms and particularly to rearms of the type,such as rifles and shotguns, which are red from the shoulder. Firearmsof this type, except those of the smallest gauges and calibers, produce,when discharged, a recoil force of substantial magnitude which in allinstances is unpleasant and, where many rounds are fired consecutively,as in trap, Skeet, or target shooting, severely bruises the shoulder ofthe shooter.

The principal object of our invention is to provide an extremely simpledevice which can be built as a part of, or readily attached to, anyrifle or shotgun, and which will function substantially to reduce therecoil force developed upon a discharge of the rearm.

We accomplish this object by means of the 'novel elements and thecombinations and arrangements thereof described below and illustrated inthe accompanying drawing in which- Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, sideelevation view of a rie or shotgun, with portions broken away,illustrating our device, in longitudinal section, attached thereto withthe parts in normal position before ring;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the parts in the positionto which they move when the gun is fired;

Fig. 3 is a` View of Fig. 1 as seen through the plane 3 3; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of a modication of ourdevice.

Referring to the drawing, and rst to Figs. 1, 2 and 3- I is the fore-endand 2 the barrel of either a rie or shotgun. Secured to the under sideof the barrel, by brazing or other means (not shown), and in spaced,substantially paralleldisposed relation thereto is our recoil reducingdevice which is represented generally by the numeral 3.

The device comprises an elongated tube which, as illustrated in Figs. 1and 2, is internally threaded at each end and closed at the front by thethreaded plug 5 and at the rear by the threaded plug 5. The tube 4 maybe about 6 or '7 long and of an outside diameter approximating theoutside diameter of the gun barrel. The inside diameter of the tube, inthe case of a shotgun, may approximate the inside diameter of the barreloi' the gun but, in the case of a rifle, the

-inside diameterof the tube will generally be substantially larger thanthe inside diameter of the barrel. Slidably mounted in the tube 4 is apiston 1, having a head 8 and an elongated skirt able means, so that aspace I I is always maintained between the head of the piston and the.plug 6 when the piston is in its rearmost position. A passage I2provides communication between the bore of the barrel 2 and the space II. A light, helical compression spring I3 is biased normally to hold thepiston 1 against the projection I0 of the plug 6.

The spring I3 extends into the piston, as shown t in Fig. l, and ismaintained substantially coaxial with the tube l by the projection I 4on the plug 5. The plug 5 is provided with passages I5 extendingAaxially therethrough and providing communication between the interior ofthe tube d and the atmosphere. Intermediate its ends, the tube d is alsoprovided with a plurality of ports or openings shown in Figs. 1 and 2 ascircumferentially-spaced, longitudinally-extending, slots It whichprovide communication, through the passage I2 and the tube 4, betweenthe bore of the gun and the atmosphere after the piston l, as it movesforwardly in the tube d, has passed thereover.

As pointed out above, the parts are normally in the position shown inFig. 1 but, when the gun is fired, some of the gas generated by the ex'-plosion of the powder, and which is ordinarily trapped in the barrel ofthe gun behind the bullet or shot charge until the bullet or shot chargeleaves the muzzle of the gun, will escape through the passage I 2, assoon as the bullet or shot charge passes the opening from the barrelinto said passage. This gas, which is under very high pressure, willenter space II in the tube 4 between the head 8 of the piston and theplug 6 and will drive the piston forwardly in the tube to the positionshown in Fig. 2. Air, which would normally be trapped in the tube 4 inthe space between the plug 5 and the piston 7, will be dischargedthrough the passages I5 in the plug 5, and also through the ports IE5until the piston 'l moves past the ports. Thereafter, the air will bedischarged only through the passages l5 in the plug 5, but after thepiston l passes the ports I6, the gases resulting from the explosion ofthe powder will be discharged through these ports.

When the gun is red, the inertia of the bullet or shot charge and thefricticnal resistance offered to its passage toward the muzzle of thegun is suicient to start the development of the recoil force which tendsto move the entire gun assembly rearwardly a small fraction of an inchbefore the bullet or shot leaves the muzzle. The recoil force however,develops to a maximum when the bullet or short charge leaves the barrelor, in other words, at the time of the muzzle blast. Before the bulletor shot charge reaches the muzzle of the gun, and before the recoilforce has developed to a substantial magnitude, the gases resulting fromthe explosion escape through the passage I2 as soon as the bullet orshot charge moves past the entrance thereto, and these gases enteringthe space i in the tube i will drive the piston 'i forceably forwardagainst the compression of spring i3 until it strikes the front plug 5,as shown in Fig. 2.

Since the piston 7 is of substantial weight, when it strikes the plug inthe front end of the tube Ll, as shown in Fig. 2, the blow will tend todrive the entire gun assembly forward in the direction opposite therecoil force, thereby reducing the effect of the recoil on the shoulderof the shooter.

In Fig. 4 we have shown a modification of our device in which thetubular element t is provided with external threads ii' at the front endwhich cooperate with the internally threaded closure cap IB having airpassages i5! extending therethrough similar to the passages i5 in theplug 5. There is some advantage in using a. closure cap of the typeshown at i3 rather than a plug of the type shown at 5 since it providesa slightly longer forward run of the piston with the same length tube.The rear end of the tube i is closed by the threaded plug 2U.

Extending longitudinally of the tube 4 and coaxial therewith is acylindrical rod 2l which is merely supported in a recess 22 in the capI8 and in a recess 23 in the plug 2i?. The head 24 of the piston 25 isprovided with a centrally-disposed opening therein through which the rod2i passes so that the piston has a sliding t both in the tube 4 and onthe rod 2i. .The rearward movement of the piston within the tube 4 islimited by the collar 26 on rod 2l, and the piston is normallyV heldagainst the collar by means of the light, helical spring 27.

Adjacent the plug 25, the tubular element 4 is provided with a passage2S which is adapted to provide communication between the bore of thebarrel of the gun and the tube when the device is brazed or otherwisesecured to the barrel. The tube is also provided with gas dischargeports 29 which function in the same way as the ports I S shown in Figs.l and 2 but which are here shown as round.

The lugs Si! and 3i which are brazed or otherwise secured to the tube iare adapted to be brazed to the barrel of the gun for securing ourdevice thereto; and lugs 36 and 32 shown in Figs. 1 and 2 serve the samefunction. The device shown in Fig. 4. functions in the same way as eX-plained above in connection with the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2, andtherefore no further `explanation seems necessary.

It will be obvious that, when the powder charge in any gun is ignited,the gas pressure developed in the barrel of the gun is very high andthat this pressure diminishes as the bullet or shot charge i takeadvantage of the higher gas pressure which develops in this zone.

From the foregoing and a consideration of the drawing, particularly Fig.2, it will be apparent that both the spring i3 and the spring 21 are ofsuch character that they do not prevent the piston Si from striking theclosure element at the forward end of the tube in which said piston isslidable. Furthermore, the ports IG or the ports 29, through which thegases resulting from the explosion of the powder are discharged, are notopened until just before the piston 9 strikes said closure element.Thus, the piston 9 is driven under high pressure substantiallythroughout its forward movement.

While we have described our invention in its preferred embodiment, it isto be understood that the words which we have used are words ofdescription rather than of limitation and that changes, within thepurview of the appended claim, may be made without departing from thetrue scope and spirit of our invention in its broader aspects.

What we claim is:

A recoil reducing device for a firearm of the type which is iired fromthe shoulder; said device comprising an elongated, cylindrical tube, arod within and coaxial with said tube, a piston of substantial mass insaid tube slidably mounted on sai-:1 rod, means forming a closure foreach end of said tube, a light helical spring around said rodcooperating' with said piston for Vnormally but yieldingly maintainingsaid Piston adjacent one end of said tube, means cooperating with saidpiston when in normal position for maintaining it in spaced relation tosaid adjacent end oi said tube, and means on said cylinder adapting itto be secured to the barrel of said 4drearrfi in closely spaced,parallel disposed relation thereto; said tube being provided with alateral opening in a zone intermediate the normal position of saidpiston and the end o1" said tube adjacent the normal position of saidpiston and adapte-d to communicate with a passage through said barrel ina zone intermediate the ends thereof for the flow o gas from said barrelto said cylinder upon a discharge of said iirearm when said tube issecured to said barrel, and also with openings adjacent the other end ofsaid tube for the passage of air, and ports intermediate the endsthereof for the discharge of gas; said ports being disposed to providecommunication between the interior of said tube and the atmosphere forthe discharge of gas therethrough only when said piston is closelyadjacent the end of said tube remote from its normal position.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNTED STATESPATENTS NumberName Date 515,064: Unge Feb. 20, 1894 1,469,918 De Maine Oct. 9, Y19231,749,137 Hudson Mar. 4, 1930 1,786,207 Hudson Dec. 23, 1930 2,393,627Garand Jan. 29, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 661,830 GermanyJune 28, 1938 203,985 Switzerland July 1939 OTHER REFERENCES The CoastArtillery Journal, May-June, 1945, pp. 32-36.

